Would you turn with me to Romans
chapter 5? While you're turning there, Evan
Farrell is going to speak for us tonight. I'm very much looking
forward to hearing him speak. Romans chapter 5, I'd like to read verses 12 through
19 of Romans chapter 5. Wherefore, as by one man, sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. For until the law, sin was in
the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law, Nevertheless,
death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned
after the similitude of Adam's transgression, which is a reference
to children, babies dying, who is the figure of him that was
to come. But not as the offense, so also it's the free gift. For
if through the offense of one, many be dead, Much more, the
grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus
Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that
sinned, so is the gift for the judgment was by one man, by one
to condemnation. But the free gift is of many
offenses unto justification. For if by one man's offense,
death reign by one, much more, they which receive abundance
of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so
by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men
under justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Back in 1990, there was a Bible
conference at 13th Street with Brother Mahan assigning us all
subjects, the speakers that were there. And we were going through
the book of Romans. And I was assigned Romans chapter
5, the passage of scripture I just read. And Paul Mahan was assigned
Romans chapter 8. And my mother's comment was,
well, anybody can preach out of Romans chapter 8. Why did
they give you that passage? You know, I thought that's a
good question. This is a difficult passage. But the thing is, no, she was
wrong. Nobody can preach out of Romans 8 unless God teaches
them. And nobody can preach out of Romans 5 unless God teaches
them. I realize that. But this is a
difficult passage of scripture. As a matter of fact, I was thinking
about this. If someone was an unbeliever, and they heard this
passage of scripture, and they said, what? What is this supposed
to mean? Well, I hope the Lord will be
our teacher as we consider just what this passage of scripture
actually teaches. I've entitled this message Romans
5, 12 through 19. I didn't know what else to title
it. There's so many things in this
passage. But by way of introduction, before
we look at the passage by itself, I want to give some things that
are taught in this scripture that will help us understand
this passage of scripture that we just read. And here's the
first thing I'd like to say, and I can say this with such
conviction. Any believer will tell you that
the only hope they have of being accepted by a holy God is if
God himself imputes the righteousness of his son to them. You believe that, don't you? Look in Romans chapter four,
verse six. Even as David also described
it. the blessedness of the man under
whom God imputeth righteousness without works, without them doing
anything to get it, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. The ground of our acceptance
altogether excludes merit on our part in any way. It excludes anything done by
me, even if it was God who enabled me to do it. It's from God lifting
my sin off of me and placing it in Christ and imputing my
iniquity to him so that it became his and placing Christ's actual
obedience upon me. That's the only hope I have. It has nothing to do with anything
I've done, nothing to do with anything God has enabled me to
do. My only hope of actually being accepted by a holy God
is for Him to take my sin off me and put it on Christ. And for Him to take, put it on
Him, put it in Him, however you want to say it. Scripture uses
both words, but my sin wasn't placed upon Him like a burden
on His back. He was made sin. And for Him to take the very
righteousness of Jesus Christ, His perfect law-keeping, and
giving it to me. It's called in the Bible justification. That's what that is. If that's
untrue, I have no hope. What I just said, if it's untrue,
if that's not the way God does things, I have no hope. But if
it's true, what a blessed hope I have. that God actually takes
the righteousness of his son without any working on my part,
without me doing anything to get it and giving it to me as
the free gift of his grace. Now, here's the second thing
I'd like to say. The reason for this hope is found
in what is called representation. Representation, the old writers
call this federal headship. Representation, what does that
mean? All that Adam did, he did as
a representative man. Look in verse 12 of our text.
Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world and death
by sin, So death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. Now notice it doesn't say in
this passage of scripture that Adam's sin was imputed to all
men. It says all men sinned. When
Adam sinned, you and I sinned. Somebody says, well, I wasn't
around then. You are in your representative. and you would
have done the exact same thing he did. You can't say, well,
it's not right that Adam sinned. It's charged to me. No, when
Adam sinned, you yourself sinned. It's not simply that what he
did is imputed to you. You did it. You sinned. Don't think for a second you
would have been any better than Adam or would have done anything
differently. That's not so. When Adam sinned,
you and I actually sinned. Now, Adam is a type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look in verse 14. Nevertheless, death reigned from
Adam to Moses, even over them that did not sin after the similitude
of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was
to come. Now, there's no room for guessing
there. Adam was a type of Christ. When
Adam sinned, I sinned. Now he's a figure of this, when
Christ obeyed, I obeyed. When Christ kept the law, I kept
the law. Now God only deals with two men, Adam or Christ. Now the most obvious illustration
of this, I think in the scripture is David and Goliath. If David
wins, all of Israel wins. If David loses, all of Israel
loses. There was a fight between two
men, David and Goliath, and those two men represented those entire
nations. If David wins, if he whips Goliath,
all of Israel is victorious. If David loses, and Goliath wins,
all of Israel loses. Another example of this, Adam
being a representative, Christ being a representative, when
Eve ate of the fruit, did the fall take place? No. It wasn't until Adam ate
that the eyes of them both were open. God said in the day, you
eat thereof, not Eve, but you. Eve was in the loins or in the
rib of Adam or whatever, however that works, but it was when Adam
ate that the death took place and the eyes were opened. The
scripture teaches this thing of representation. I think of
what the Lord said in Matthew chapter 3 verse 15 to John the
Baptist when he came to be baptized. And John said, I have needed
to be baptized in thee, cometh thou to me? And he said, suffer
it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. You know, everything the Lord
did, he did as an us. Everything Adam did, he did as an us. Whatever
he did, we did. We sinned when he sinned. But
everything the Lord Jesus Christ did, he did as an us. Aren't you thankful for representation? And the third thing I'd like
to say that we see in this passage of scripture is that the Bible
does actually teach imputation. And this is something that the
world would look at. How could that be fair? I mean,
how can that be right? How can, how can I be charged
with somebody else's sin? Or how can I be charged with
somebody else's righteousness? Well, what the Bible teaches
in the Bible is authoritative, isn't it? We believe what God
says in his word, and we bow to what God says in his word,
and this is indeed what the Bible teaches. Now, it teaches the
non-imputation of sin. My sin is most real, but here's
my hope. God doesn't impute it to me.
You find that attractive? that God actually would not charge
you with your sin. I find that very attractive. I don't want to be charged with
my sin. We read of the imputation of
righteousness. I've already read that passage
of scripture, Romans chapter four, verse six, non-imputation
of sin and the imputation of righteousness. Do you find this
attractive that God would take the righteousness of his son
and impute it to you? I find that very attractive.
That's what I want. I don't want my sin imputed to
me, and I want the righteousness of Christ imputed to me. But
you know something we never read of that I think is very interesting? We never read of sin being imputed
to Christ. Not one time do we read that.
Now, sin was imputed to Christ, but how come? Because it was
there. He was made sin. He was made sin and sin was imputed
to him. Somehow God mysteriously and
wondrously took my sin away. He took it from me and made it
his son's sin and sin was imputed to him. And it was just as truly
his as it was once just as truly mine. He was made sin. And he became guilty. That's
why he died. Now in our judicial system, sometimes
sin is imputed wrongly, isn't it? You know, Lynn and I watched
a program on TV where a man was accused of murdering his wife
and he didn't do it. And he spent 27 years in prison
for something he did not do. And you know, there are people
walking the streets of Lexington, Kentucky this morning that have
committed crimes that have not been imputed to them. Nothing like that happens in
the courts of heaven. Aren't you glad? Imputation is not God moving
columns in the ledger sheet and treating you as innocent even
though he knows you're not, nor was him treating Christ as guilty
as though he knew he was not. Although he knew he was not.
No, it's real. If sin was imputed to Christ,
it was his. He's guilty. If righteousness
is imputed to me, I'm righteous. I'm not guilty. You know, I have heard people
object to Adam's sin being imputed. And they said, how can that be
fair? for somebody else's sin to be imputed to me. Well, for
one thing, it wasn't somebody else's sin. It was your sin.
It was your sin. Romans 5.12 points that out. When Adam sinned, I sinned. Not
just his sin was imputed to me, but I did it. I was guilty. But
let's say that Adam's sin was not imputed to you. Just think
of that for a moment. Let's say Adam's sin wasn't imputed
to you. What difference does it make? How have you done without
that happening? You sinned just as bad. Even
if his sin was not imputed to you, you still look at the sin
you committed. So what good would it do you if Adam's sin was not
imputed to you? It wouldn't do you a bit of good.
And here's the plain fact of the matter. The only hope that
I have, if Adam's sin could become my
sin, so that I'm charged with it and I'm guilty of it, That
means, in like manner, Christ's righteousness can be charged
to me so that it is mine and I'm actually righteous. The only
hope you and I have is in this thing of imputation, and it is
altogether righteous. I love the way Romans 5, 20 and
21 says, Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound,
but where sin abounded, Grace did much more about that as sin
had reigned unto death, even so might grace reign. What's
that? Those next two words through
righteousness. You see, this is altogether righteous
grace. What we're talking about now, this is altogether righteous. It doesn't placate sin. It doesn't
just try to hide. No, this is altogether righteous. Now, none of these things. This
is the fourth thing I'd like to say before we look at this
passage of scripture. None of these things, somebody's thinking,
is your introduction that long? How long is sermon gonna be?
No longer than usual, no longer than usual, but stay with me. None of these things can be understood
apart from the believer's eternal union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is all the truth in
scripture. We don't much understand, we
just believe. And I'm so comfortable with that. If I could understand
it, there just wouldn't be much to it. If I could grasp it, if
I could intellectually put it, there just wouldn't be much to
it. I don't understand this, but Christ and all of his people
are eternally one. There's never been a time before
time began in eternity. There's never been a time when
the believer has been outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
are eternally united in him. Look at Ephesians chapter five
for a moment. Now, Paul had been talking about
marriage. Verse 25, husbands, love your
wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for
it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of
water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it
should be holy. and without blemish, so ought
men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his
wife, loveth himself. You see, when Christ loved his
wife, he was loving himself. That's all that's referring to. When Christ was loving his wife,
he was loving himself because we're united to him. What about
that passage of scripture? If we deny him, he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. I'm himself. I'm united to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go on reading. For no man
ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth it and cherisheth
even as the Lord the church, the church is his own flesh.
For we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall
be joined unto his wife and they too shall be one flesh. Now this is a great mystery,
but what I'm talking about is Christ in the church, Paul says.
I'm not just talking about human marriage. I'm talking about Christ
and the church. The two shall become one flesh. Turn to Hebrews chapter 2. Verse 11. For both he that sanctifyeth
and they who are sanctified are all of one. One. Not two real close together. Not two glued together. But one. One with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Eternally. One with Him. You know, that's
what we confess in baptism. Now, the believer, when he's
baptized, he confesses, here's my hope that I'm one with him,
that when he lived, I lived. When he kept the law, I kept
the law. When he died, I died. When he was raised, I was raised.
That's what we're confessing in baptism. That's our confession
of Christ. Now, aren't you thankful the
Lord was baptized? You see, he was confessing his oneness with
us. We confess our oneness with him.
Thank His holy name, He confessed His oneness with us. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one. Being united to Adam,
what he did, I did. Being united to Christ, what
he did, I did. Now, this is what is taught in
this passage of Scripture. The only hope we have is for
God to justify us. It doesn't have anything to do
with anything we've done. It's just what the judge declares
us to be. The Bible really does teach representation. What Christ
did, he did as a representative man. What Adam did, he did as
a representative man. God only deals with two men.
The Bible really does teach this thing of imputation, of what
Adam did being imputed to me, what Christ did being imputed
to me. The Bible teaches this. And the
Bible is authoritative. Somebody says, well, I can't
see that. Well, it's still there. It's still there. This is what the
Bible teaches. And the Bible teaches this thing of union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, with those things in mind,
let's go back to Romans chapter 5. Verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man, sin
entered the world, speaking of Adam's transgression, and death
by sin, the reason people die, there's only one reason, sin.
The reason Christ died, there's only one reason, sin. Death passed
upon all men for that all have sinned. Now, without doubt, Look
in verse 13, there's a parentheses. The parentheses doesn't end until
the end of verse 17, and you can actually read verses 12 and
verses 18 and 19 together without doing any damage to the meaning,
actually explaining the meaning. Look at verse, wherefore, as
by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so that
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Therefore,
verse 18, as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men
to condemnation, Even so, by the righteousness of one, the
free gift came upon all men to justification of life. For as
by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Now, when Adam sinned, it was
all a part of God's purpose. God said to Adam in the day you
eat thereof, you shall surely die. He didn't say if you eat,
he said when you do. God is in control of all that. Aren't you thankful for that?
The Lord had glorious reasons for this because of who he is.
But Adam sinned, sin came into the world, death by sin. And
when he sinned, you and I sinned as well. Verse 13, for until
the law, sin was in the world. Even before the giving of the
Mosaic Law, before the Ten Commandments, sin was already in the world.
But sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless,
death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned
after the similitude of Adam's transgression. That's talking
about babies. That's exactly what that's talking about. It's
talking about babies, babies dying, newborns dying. Newborns dying. And how many millions or billions
of newborns have died over the centuries? Why did they die? There's only one reason. Sin. That's the only reason. There's
no such thing as an innocent death. Adam's sin was truly their
sin. And they die because of sin. Now, people ask themselves the
question, well, does that mean God sent these infants to hell?
I don't believe so. Now, I can't make a definitive
statement about it. I believe they were included
in the blood of Christ. But whatever God does is right.
Isn't that so? Whatever he does is right. And we rest in that. But I think of David saying concerning
the death of his son, I won't see him, but I won't be able
to come to, he won't be able to come back to me, but I'll
go to him. I mean, there was a, there's an implication there that perhaps
he was saved. And if they're saved, I know
this, there's only one reason they're saved, it's because of
the blood of Christ. I know that. And also know this, you see the
wisdom of the Lord in not telling us in the Bible all infants are
included in, will be saved. Because if it did, how many people
would murder kids as soon as they're born? You know, if they
knew for sure they would be saved, the best thing you could do for
them. And yet, and look at what a blessing it is. What if you
thought for sure they weren't? Can you think of the despair
a parent would feel after maybe a woman miscarrying a baby, thinking,
oh no, it's in hell, you know? And what despair that would create.
So you see the wisdom of the Lord in not saying exactly how
it is. I don't know. I don't know how
it is, but I know whatever the Lord does is right. But the fact of
the matter is, babies do die, don't they? And there's only
one reason for death. Sin. Adam's sin was their sin. That's why they died, because
they didn't see it the way Adam did. They were incapable of it.
They didn't understand. They didn't have any understanding.
They died though, because Adam's sin was their sin. And Adam's sin is your personal
sin as well, and my personal sin as well. Now let's go on
reading. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses. This is all the men, even before
the giving of the law, where the Lord gave Moses the law,
even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's
transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. Adam
is a type of Christ. He's a figure of him that was
to come. When Adam fell, me and you fell. Well, that's he's a figure. Everybody
he represented fell. Well, everybody Christ represented
lives. Now let's go on reading verse
15. But not as the offense, so also
is the free gift. For if through the offense of
one, many be dead. And that's just the way it is.
In Adam, all die. Much more by the grace of God
and the gift by grace. Don't you love the way this is
all called grace? God, oh, I love the grace of
God. Salvation by grace. Holy by grace. Much more the grace of God and
the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ hath abounded
to many. The offense is the fall of Adam,
and the work of Christ is called the free gift. Every aspect of
God's salvation is altogether free. That means there's nothing
in me that causes it. Hell, I love it that way. God,
for Christ's sake, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. If through
the fall of Adam, many may be dead, even more glorious through
the perfect obedience of Christ, the gift of God's grace, it will
abound to many. Now verse 16, he's, he's contrasting
Adam's disobedience and Christ's obedience. Look in verse 16.
And not as it was by one that sin, so as the gift. like Christ's
righteousness would only be given to one, for the judgment was
by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses
unto justification of life. One act of disobedience, one
man's sin caused many to be sinners, but by one act of righteousness,
the obedience of one is given to many. Many are justified by
what he did. Verse 17, for if by one man's
offense, Death reigned by one. And how much ability do you personally
have to stop death? You're gonna die. If the Lord
doesn't come back, you will die. That's happened to everybody
and no one has the ability to prevent it. Death reigned by
one. Nothing you could do to prevent
it. For if by one man's offense, death reigned by one, much more
they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Verse 18. Now notice the parentheses is
over and he makes these very clear statements. Therefore,
as by the offense, the fall of Adam, therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so
by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life. Now, what verse 12 said, Explains
what verse 18 says or verse 18 explains verse 12 by the offense
of one Judgment came upon all men to condemnation now. I was
born condemned I Was born under the judgment of God and you are
too. That's the way we were born You
know when Christ said I didn't come to condemn the world That
doesn't mean that I didn't come to you know Here's what he meant. I didn't
come to condemn the world because the world was already condemned.
It already was condemned. I was condemned in Adam. I was
judged in Adam. I was, I was, I was born bad. David said, behold, I was shapen
in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. I was born
this way because of what Adam did. I was born, you know, you
don't have to train a child to lie. I was talking to a lady
up on the I do everything I can to try to keep anybody from finding
out I'm a preacher because I know what's going to happen afterwards.
But boy, she went into another gear. She was talking about babies,
how they're innocent, and they have to be taught to lie, and
they have to be taught to cheat, and they have to be taught to
be cruel and selfish. I looked at her, I said, do you
really believe that? I mean, really, really, do you really
believe that? I mean, no, you don't have to
teach a baby anything like that. A child will naturally be saved.
That's the way we are. And born into this world with
sinful natures. Therefore, it's by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Even so,
by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men
to justification of life. Now, does all men in that verse
mean all without exception? Well, does it? Well, John 3,
26, it says, all men came to him. Didn't mean all men without
exception, does it? A whole lot of men don't come
to him. The Lord said, and I, if I be
lifted up, will draw all men to me. Doesn't mean all men without
exception, because he doesn't draw all men without exception
to himself. He only draws the elect to himself, and they come
to him. When the world was taxed by Caesar,
people who lived in North and South America, the Indians, they
weren't taxed. You know, it says all the world
was taxed, but it doesn't mean all men without exception. I
mean, the Bible never means that. Now, when Adam sinned, all men
sinned and all men were condemned. And when Christ obeyed the law,
all men he obeyed it for were justified in God's sight. That's
the all. Now, here's my question. How do I know if I'm in this
all? I'm very interested in that.
How can I know if I'm somebody that was represented by the Lord
Jesus Christ? And so let me ask you this question.
Is your only hope, is your only hope, that he died
for you and caused you to be justified. Is that really your
only hope? When God looks in your heart,
does he see that you believe yourself really to be a sinner
with no, absolutely no personal righteousness? And the only way
you can be saved is for Christ to die for you and be raised
for you. Therefore, as by the offense
of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so
by the righteousness of one, the Lord Jesus Christ, the free gift came upon all men to justification
of life. Now look in verse 19. Excuse me. For as by one man's
disobedience, many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Now, you don't become a sinner
when you sin. That's simple enough, isn't it?
You sin because you're a sinner. You're born that way. Even so, by the obedience of
one, shall many be made righteous." Now, I love thinking about being
made righteous. I know in and of myself I'm not
righteous. I know I was born evil. But what
a blessed, glorious thing it is to be made righteous to where
I really am, righteous before God. Made righteous! I like that, made righteous.
Only God can make a man righteous, and He does it. Scripture says
Christ is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. Made righteous. Well, I was made
righteous by being united to Christ as He is. So are we in
this world. If He's righteous, I am too.
His righteousness is my personal righteousness before God. I was
made righteous because Christ's righteousness is imputed to me.
It's charged to my account and it really is mine. God only imputes
righteousness where there is righteousness. I was made righteous
in Christ and God imputed it to me. He's righteous. God doesn't
do corrupt bookkeeping. If I'm made righteous by imputations
because I am truly righteous. Scripture says, well, righteousness
by gift. I love in that passage of scripture
where righteousness is called the gift of righteousness. The gift. Well, how do I know
I have it? You receive it. We receive abundance
of grace and the gift of righteousness. Now, when you receive a gift,
one thing you know about that gift, it's not something you
earned. It's not something you achieved, it was given to you
as a gift. Is your righteousness given to
you as a gift? And I love this thought as well. Lot is called righteous Lot. And it speaks of his righteous
soul. that was vexed day to day by
their unlawful deeds. You see, a believer is righteous
by nature. Now, Lot, do I have to prove to you that
he was a sinful man in and of himself? I mean, as a matter
of fact, before the New Testament was written, in all the literature
regarding Lot, everybody looked at him as a wicked man, not a
true child of God, not a true follower of God. But yet God
says he's a righteous man and he speaks of his righteous soul. What that is talking about is
what is given to the believer in the new nature, in the new
birth, a nature that does not sin. Righteousness doesn't sin. If it sins, it's not righteous.
Now, He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. This is talking about the new
man, the new righteous nature. And it's only the righteous nature
that sees the sinfulness of the old nature. One of the ways you
know that you have a holy nature is if you see yourself as altogether
unholy. It's the new nature that sees
that and understands that it's a righteous nature. And then
in Romans chapter four, let me read this to you. Romans chapter
four, verse five is by the obedience of one or is by one man's disobedience. Many were made sinners. So by
the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Now look at
this verse in verse five. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Now, does
that mean faith is a substitute for righteousness? or God views
faith as righteousness. Well, let me ask you, is your
faith righteous? What about your faith? Think
of the unbelief that clouds your view all the time. We're saved
by the faithfulness of Christ. Now, what is the one evidence that I'm righteous before God?
Can I look in my heart and my conduct and my thoughts and my
life and say, yep, I fit that description. I'm righteous before
God. God's done a great work of grace
in me. Look at my life. I'm so good. I'm so holy. No. You don't look at yourself and
say, yep, I'm righteous. The only evidence that you're
righteous is faith. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
What is the evidence that you've been eternally united to Christ? Faith. You believe the gospel. What is the evidence that God
has imputed the righteousness of his son to you? Faith. You believe the gospel. This
describes you, to him that worketh not, you know you cannot be saved
by what you do, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. There's my hope. His faith is
counted for righteousness. What is the evidence that God
has given you this gift of righteousness? Faith. What is the evidence that you
have a righteous nature? I mean a righteous nature that
doesn't sin. Can you look at your conduct
and say, yeah, I can see right? No. The only evidence that you
have this righteous, holy nature is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is canon
for righteousness. Now, that passage of scripture
is where we find all of our hope. That God has only dealt with
two men, Adam, and I was condemned in him, and Christ, and I was
justified, and I was accepted in him. And beloved, I know this. All I want is to be found in
Christ. Does that well up in your heart?
That's all I want. All I want is to be found in
Christ so that all God sees is Jesus Christ. not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Let's pray together.